Monday mornings I'm on the air sharing more stories about how people are living better through computers. I'll tuck field notes from those shows right here. You'll also be able to dig into the archives to explore previous shows as I determine how best to share some of the highlights of the past 9 year's worth of adventures.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Internet Resources for Helping Families Survive and Thrive the Realities of a Difficult Holiday Season

At a time when things are tough for so many families, children may wake up to a tree with fewer presents beneath it. In my last show I shared my 5 favourite ideas for creating holiday memories on a tight budget. It was ironic that as I was preparing this column my own husband came home to tell me that he had just been terminated from his job of many years in the struggling automotive industry. I know a number of our listeners are facing this reality at the moment, so I thought it might be helpful to share some of the better resources I've found on the Internet for helping families cope with the reality of hard times. They offer ideas on everything from how to have difficult conversations with young children, and sitting down with your family and creating some shared expectations about what you want to get out of the holidays, to taking some unconventional approaches to how and when you give gifts, from the "Secret Santa" approach to a shared family outing to buy each other gifts after Christmas.

These first resources were prepared for Canadian families by Canadians, and offer ideas that are not only practical but often fun at a time when it may be a real challenge to cope. I hope you'll find them as helpful as I have: